Entries by Cole Lauterbach

Phoenix To Use Federal Funding for Universal Basic Income Pilot

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

One thousand lucky Phoenix families will get $1,000 in taxpayer funding a month in 2022. The Phoenix City Council has approved $12 million for a “Financial Assistance for Phoenix Families Program,” a lottery-based form of universal basic income that will begin in January 2022 if not sooner. The program, which has yet to be finalized, […]

Arizonans Digging Heel In Over COVID Vaccination Hesitancy

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Polling is beginning to reveal a group of Arizonans will remain steadfast in their opposition to getting vaccinated against COVID-19 no matter how bleak the pandemic gets. OH Predictive Insights, a Phoenix-based polling, and marketing firm, released its monthly Arizona Public Opinion Pulse on Tuesday, showing the results of 1,000 state residents polled between Sept. […]

Biden Tax Proposal Would Cost Arizona Thousands of Jobs, ASU Report Estimates

Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

President Joe Biden’s proposal to increase the United States’ Global Intangible Low-Tax Income (GILTI) tax will lead to job losses at 266 public companies in Arizona, according to research from Arizona State University. The proposal doubles the GILTI rate to 21% from 10.5%. Ninety-four percent of U.S manufacturers believe the increase will harm their business, […]

August Border Crossings Remain At Near-Record High

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

The steady flow of migrants crossing America’s southern border with Mexico remains at levels not seen in decades. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s August data on migrant encounters near the southern border showed 208,887 encounters last month. That’s around 3,000 fewer than July’s record 212,000 encounters in July but significantly more than in August […]

Arizona First In Nation to Sue Biden Over COVID Vaccine Mandate

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has fired the opening salvo in the anticipated legal fight over President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate. Brnovich filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of Arizona, claiming Biden’s mandate violates the Equal Protection Clause by favoring migrants who can decline the vaccine, “protecting their freedom and bodily […]

Arizona Police Recruiting in Washington Days After Vaccine Mandate

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Arizona’s state police force is in the Pacific Northwest in an attempt to bolster its ranks. The push comes on the heels of news that Washington Gov. Jay Inslee isn’t allowing exceptions to his vaccine mandate. The Arizona Department of Public Safety announced that they would be in Washington from Sept. 7 through Sept. 19 […]

Arizona Officials React to Biden Vaccination Announcement

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

President Joe Biden’s Thursday announcement of broad new COVID-19 vaccination requirements has some Arizona officials cheering and others settling in for a fight. Biden announced a vaccination requirement for employees of any business with more than 100 people, something that’s estimated to be a vaccine requirement for 100 million people. Another estimated 80 million workers […]

Feds Identify Phoenix As Best City For Afghan Refugees

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

Editors’ Note: While the generosity of state officials is laudable, there is an uncomfortable question to be asked: Considering the growing evidence that the Biden Administration is not properly vetting refugees, what should  Arizona officials do to protect this state and its citizens from mistakenly importing terrorists? It is likely many of these Afghans were […]

Yee Divests Arizona Treasury From Ben & Jerry’s For Israel Boycott

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee is pulling the state’s public funds from a company over its decision to boycott Israel after multiple warnings. Yee announced Tuesday she had taken steps to eventually divest all public money from Unilever, the British corporation that owns ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s. The move, she said, is in accordance […]

Arizona Businesses Warn PRO Act Would Erase State’s Economic Edge

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Arizona’s business leaders say labor legislation awaiting consideration in the U.S. Senate would cause a seismic shift in labor-employer relations, nullifying many aspects of state law employers look for when considering relocation. Associated General Contractors Arizona chapter President David Martin praised Arizona Democratic U.S. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly for their “pragmatic approach” on […]

Goldwater: Lawsuit Could Ban Tax Cuts In Arizona

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

A legal challenge to legislation that shielded small businesses from Prop. 208’s tax increase could end up barring the Arizona Legislature from ever cutting taxes again. That’s the claim from the nonprofit Goldwater Institute, which filed to intervene in a challenge to Senate Bill 1783 by Invest in Arizona. The legislation, enacted as part of […]

Arizona Supreme Court Upholds Prop. 208, Won’t Allow It To Break Spending Limit

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

Arizona’s high court didn’t strike down a voter-approved tax increase on the wealthy, but it’s not going to let the influx of new revenue break a constitutional cap on education spending, either. The Arizona Supreme Court remanded Fann vs. Invest in Education back to a trial court Thursday morning, saying it’s too early to say […]

Phoenix Sues Arizona Over Law To Stop Police Oversight Board

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Arizona is facing a lawsuit from its capital city in what appears to be an effort to stop the Legislature’s effort to shut down a civilian-staffed police oversight panel. The city of Phoenix announced its attorney filed the lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court. It aims to invalidate House Bill 2893, the Legislature’s budget reconciliation […]

Phoenix Is Nation’s Fastest-Growing Big City; Nearby Buckeye’s Population Explodes

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

The U.S. Census Bureau released its official data Thursday, reflecting its 2020 headcount. It confirms estimates showing Arizona’s capital city grew faster than any other of the country’s major population centers. Phoenix grew by 11.2% from 2010 to 2020, trading places with Philadelphia for the fifth-largest city in the nation. There also was a trend […]

Arizona State Senator Faces 6 Child Molestation Felonies, Decades In Prison If Convicted

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Arizona state Sen. Otoniel “Tony” Navarrete, a Phoenix Democrat, is facing multiple charges of molestation of a minor that could see him imprisoned for much of the rest of his life if convicted. The first-term state senator is facing a Class 2 felony molestation of a child, three Class 2 felonies for sexual conduct with […]

Arizona State Democrats Push Progressive Agenda In Washington

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Some Arizona Democrats have joined party members from Texas and several other states in Washington to pressure their federal counterparts to pass major pieces of their progressive agenda. Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly joined state Reps. Andrés Cano and Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, both from Tucson, in attending the effort organized by Texas state lawmakers and […]

Hacking Attempts, Unaccounted Ballots Claimed By Maricopa County Auditors

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

The auditors paid by Arizona Senate Republicans to review Maricopa County’s 2020 general election said Thursday they have found security flaws and want to dig further. County officials, however, said the auditors’ announcements are the latest in a series of sham declarations meant to cast doubt on the results and spur a redo of the […]

Arizona Officials Sound Off On Bronovich’s Supreme Court Win

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

Thursday’s ruling upholding the legality of Arizona’s ban on ballot harvesting is being hailed as a victory for election integrity and a tragedy for minority voting rights. In a 6-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court said Arizona’s restriction on who can deliver a completed ballot to be counted doesn’t run afoul of the Voting Rights […]

Arizona To See Largest Tax Cut In State History

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has set the wheels in motion for the largest personal income tax cut in the state’s 109-year history. Ducey announced he has signed a package of bills that comprise the $13 billion state budget for fiscal year 2022, which began Thursday. “Today, I’m proud to sign a budget that delivers for […]

Arizona Senate Passes Budget, Tax Cut

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Arizona taxpayers are one step closer to keeping more of their earnings.   As they have nearly every year, Arizona lawmakers worked through the night into the next day, passing their annual budget legislation packages. The series of bills passed Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning after multiple amendments to ensure all Republicans supported the proposal. […]

With Mitigations Gone For Months, Arizona Keeps Emergency Declaration

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Even though Arizona’s business and individual COVID-19 mitigations haven’t been in effect since March, the state remains in an official state of emergency. Gov. Doug Ducey rescinded much of Arizona’s COVID-19 mitigations on businesses and individuals in March. Three months later, he’s yet to give up his emergency declaration powers, allowing him to reach further […]

Arizona, Texas Governors Ask States To Send Law Enforcement To Border

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott want other states to send police officers to aid their law enforcement agencies and federal immigration officials in policing the nation’s southern border. In a letter from both governors, Ducey and Abbott wrote the surge in immigration from Mexico and Central American states is at a […]

Ducey Declares Emergency Over Wildfires

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is freeing up extra money to aid in the fight against two large fires that have left tens of thousands of acres charred. Ducey issued two emergency declarations Wednesday because of the Telegraph and Mescal fires, making up to $400,000 available for increased response. Ducey’s office has requested additional federal funds […]

Lone Republican Derails Arizona Flat Income Tax Proposal

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Arizona Republicans weren’t able to convince one defecting member of their caucus to vote in favor of their budget that scraps the state’s progressive income tax brackets for one flat rate. Rep. David Cook, a Globe Republican, voted against all Republican-sponsored amendments to budget bills Monday that others in his party had agreed on, leaving […]

Federal Immigrant Detention Facility Quietly Opens in Scottsdale

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Local officials say the neighborhood, including nearby schools, a senior facility and single-family homes, isn’t zoned for a “drastic” change from the former hotel.   Arizona public officials are demanding answers about how a former hotel in Scottsdale became a short-term detention facility for asylum-seekers apprehended at the nation’s southern border.  The U.S. Department of […]

Arizona GOP Deadlocked, Adjourn With Budget in Limbo

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Republicans in the Arizona Legislature gaveled out Thursday, unable to agree among their caucus on a final budget. Lawmakers were told by Republican leadership Thursday afternoon that they couldn’t find common ground that would bring all of their members to vote for Gov. Doug Ducey’s proposed budget that scrapped the state’s progressive income tax structure […]

Attempt To Ban Vaccine Passports In Arizona Fails

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

A legislative effort to not only ban the creation of vaccine passports but punish businesses that require something similar narrowly failed in Arizona. The Senate called House Bill 2190 for a vote Thursday, even though a couple of Republicans were missing from what was expected to be a party-line vote. Should it have succeeded, the […]

Maricopa County Cuts PropertyTaxes In Latest Budget Proposal

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Even with the population increase in Arizona being among one of the fastest-growing states during the past decade, its 7.1 million population, especially in the Phoenix area shown here, was not enough to give the state a 10th congressional seat the U.S. Census Bureau announced Monday, April 26, 2021. Arizona’s largest county is cutting property […]

Poll: Hispanics Care More About Economy,Jobs Than Social Issues; Dislike ‘Latinx’

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

A year away from another election cycle, a nationwide poll of Hispanic Americans shows their opinions, interests and preferences don’t align perfectly with either of the country’s two major political parties. A joint effort between Arizona-based OH Predictive Insights, Chris Mottola Consulting and MAS Consulting polled 2,000 members of the Hispanic community from March 18 […]

Ducey Rescinds Unemployment Work-Search Waiver

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Arizonans accepting unemployment benefits will have to begin searching for work later this month if they want to continue receiving their weekly checks from the state. Gov. Doug Ducey announced Monday he’s rescinding a waiver that allowed residents to collect unemployment benefits without proving they actively are searching for work.  The governor pointed to stories about local […]

Who’s To Blame for Arizona’s Nation-leading Census Undercount?

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

Even with the population increase in Arizona being among one of the fastest-growing states during the past decade, its 7.1 million population, especially in the Phoenix area shown here, was not enough to give the state a 10th congressional seat the U.S. Census Bureau announced Monday, April 26, 2021. Last week’s U.S. Census Bureau figures […]

Census Surprise: Despite Growth, Arizona Doesn’t Add Congress Member

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Arizona’s official 2020 population is hundreds of thousands of people fewer than previously estimated. Despite adding nearly 12% to its population since 2010, Arizona will not be getting another U.S. representative in the state redraw of political boundaries. The U.S. Census Bureau released the data it will send individual states Monday afternoon, showing Arizona’s population […]

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